1860
The slave population is now nearly four million, making the ratio of free to enslaved Americans approximately 7:1.

1860
Arizona passes an Expulsion Act, banishing all free blacks from the state.

1861
Texas prohibits manumission.

1861
South Carolina secedes from the Union, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Later in the year, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina also secede.

1861
The Union of Confederate States is formed. Jefferson Davis is elected its president.

1861
Harriet Jacobs' INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL is the first published autobiography of an African-American woman.

1861
The Civil War begins in Charleston, South Carolina.

1861
75,000 blacks volunteering for the U.S. army are rejected.

1861
Slaves seeking refuge with Northern forces are considered "contraband of war." The First Confiscation Act is passed, declaring all property used in support of rebellion, including slaves, subject to capture.